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A half dozen kids had assembled around him before the teacher noticed Tommy suspended from the rafters by epoxy glue. He had a silly grin on his face, one that no glare, however stern could wipe off that hideously deformed face Tommy insisted on wearing to Boy Scout meetings. It seemed to keep the monsters away, though, so most of the time they let him wear it. This time was different. This time he had altered it, stuck three extra ears onto the back of the head, and two more eyebrows. Clearly it was the work of Marge. By the time Mr. Bahm intuited the culprit she was already gone - her Aerosmith lunch box abandoned.
Aside from that, it was a normal school day as any on Jupiter. No reason to let it get to me mused Mr. Bahm. Other teachers on the outer moons have it much worse. Epoxy glue! He actually gave a snort. Kids out here will try anything to get to me. But I'm trained! he thought confidently, and slashed another "F" mark on another term paper. He used a different color pen each time, and wiped the excess ink on his flower print dress. Tommy's legs kicked lazily back and forth over the tops of the desks. Maybe this was the right time to introduce his students to Kafka, maybe they would learn some critical thinking that he'd never gotten, that he'd always wished he'd gotten when his father left him at home with the monsters. These kids never had to deal with monsters... But what would be the point of bringing that subject up anyway. "I'm a professional" he reassured himself, and organizing the stack of papers briskly in his hands he turned to the class with a feline smile, eye-ing the epoxy. "Who wants to volunteer?"
